In our article Peak Oil and Environment, we outlined how non-conventional oil, biofuels, coal, and nuclear energy are peak oil solutions that have both inherent limitations and an environmental dark side. To that list, we added methane hydrates, biofuels from animal fat and offal, and hydrogen. None of these are technologies that we feel can provide a real solution to the problem of peak oil—or at least can do so in the long term without causing environmental problems that are just as bad as the peak oil problem.

No doubt our future will include some energy from all of those sources, and hopefully any chaos resulting from a liquid-fuels crisis will not be so bad that the public abandons its desire for clean air, pure water, and unpolluted land—i.e. that there won't be an energy disruption so bad that they tell their elected officials, "give me energy, no matter what the environmental cost."

This is Part 2 of a three-part series. Article 3 is coming soon. Why not sign up for the free GP email service so you don't miss it.

If you need a primer on peak oil, please see our Peak Oil FAQ or this Peak Oil article.

But if the "old guard" of energy technologies—coal, oil, gas, nuclear—are unsuitable for solving the coming liquid-fuels crisis because of supply limitations or because of unacceptable environmental consequences or other risks; and if the "new dog" technologies like ethanol, biodiesel, and hydrogen fuel cells are found to be lacking for various reasons, what would real energy solutions look like? Today, we offer our ideas for peak oil solutions, with a focus on energy technologies that have a real chance of long-term sustainability

twitter

Midwesterner that is well traveled in both hemispheres. I am concerned about the future we are handing to our children and grandchildren. I feel it is imperative that we stop being concerned with commercialism and get back to what is important . . . The Good Earth!